WASHINGTON — Saying that energy efficiency represents the cheapest and fastest solution to meet the growing energy needs of America’s entrepreneurs, leaders of local chambers of commerce from around the country today urged the U.S. Senate to adopt the “Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2013.”“As business and community leaders with members throughout the country, we know firsthand the economic development benefits of clean energy, energy efficiency in particular,” the local chambers said in a letter from Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy, an organization that represents more than 330 local chambers.

The letter, which was delivered to Senate Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell, was signed by the 15 members of the CICE advisory council who represent chambers from Arkansas, California, Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

The legislation, which is expected on the floor of the Senate soon, would promote the financing of energy efficiency retrofit projects, boosting the ability of small- and medium-sized private businesses to save money by increasing the efficiency of their buildings and operations.

In May, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources offered strong bipartisan support for the bill, approving it by a vote of 19 to 3.

The text of the letter from the Chambers of Innovation and Clean Energy follows can be found here.